Embarrassment for BBC as Ian Wright pulls out of Match of the Day in 'solidarity' with Gary Lineker

Ian Wright has said he won't appear on Match of the Day this weekend, following the BBC's announcement that Gary Lineker has "stepped back" from presenting duties in a row over his tweets.

The former Arsenal forward is a regular pundit on Match of the Day's Saturday night show, analysing the day's Premier League matches.

And his insight and enthusiastic style has made him one of the most popular football analysts on television.

It took Wright just minutes after the Lineker announcement on Friday to publicly say he had informed the BBC he would not appear on Match of the Day, finishing his statement on Twitter with: "Solidarity."

He said: "Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity."

While he did not mention Lineker by name, the two have worked together closely for years, and the statement left little doubt what he was referring to.

At the time of writing, other regular MOTD pundits had not made any statements about their own plans.